Working on the edge of what is physically possible
| Space
Working on the edge of what is physically possible
Engineer Marie-Theres Hahn from the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation conducts research into optical inter-satellite link communication terminals, among other things.
Marie-Theres Hahn has been a research associate at the DLR Institute of Communications and Navigation since 2018. As a systems engineer and project leader she works in the laboratory on optical communication terminals that, for example, transfer data between satellites. Her second biggest task is to set up a clean room at the institute to test and prepare applications for space. In this interview, the 31-year-old explains how she reconciles the two tasks and what her duties entail.
The interview was conducted by Manuela Braun.
You are researching optical inter-satellite link communication terminals – what are the applications of these communication terminals, and is anything you have worked on already flying in space?
Our terminals are used for communication – either to transmit data from satellites to Earth or to another satellite, or from an aircraft to a receiver station. We are also now working a lot in the area of quantum communication, or to be more precise, on quantum key distribution. The institute already has several terminals in use, and the project that I am currently working on will likely be implemented on satellites in the coming year.
Do you expect this to be an emotional moment for you?
Absolutely. Many colleagues who have already experienced this have told me it is a very emotional moment. This will be followed by more such moments when the terminal does its job in orbit. After all, that is the aim of our work on the ground beforehand: to ensure that the hardware we have developed and built will also work in orbit, to test for and discuss all eventualities and risks ahead of time in order to send a fully functional terminal into orbit.
We get to build something ourselves.
You studied aerospace engineering in the field of mechanical engineering. Where did your interest in engineering and aerospace come from?
At school I was already fascinated by STEM subjects but realised rather quickly that single subject areas, physics or maths for example, weren’t applied enough for my liking. After school, I ended up specialising in mechanical engineering. It is very application-oriented and allows you to make things yourself, put something real together. Aerospace was the subject I was most excited about.
Part of your work takes place in the laboratory – what does a typical workday look like?
This varies, but it is very much characterised by manual work. First off, the components are delivered to us in individual parts and need to be integrated – in the traditional way with screwdrivers, glue dots and various assembly methods. We then continue testing all the hardware. In short, does it work? Electrical tests are performed, during which I certainly give support, but help comes primarily from colleagues specialised in the area. There are optical tests to see whether the light signal comes out of the system, or whether signals go in in such a way that they can be received.
‘Hands-on’ in the lab
In the laboratory, developed hardware is built by the team and then extensively tested. When used in space or aviation, all risks must be eliminated as much as possible beforehand.
You work in a very interdisciplinary team. What does that mean for your daily work?
We have coworkers from many, many disciplines such as mechanical engineering, software and electronics development and optics. When building hardware and running tests we work in a very interdisciplinary way. This naturally means that we have many interfaces; our teamwork is based on a very good exchange, we communicate a lot with each other, we discuss, we solve problems together on site and have a very high success rate.
Research always requires the right conditions to get the best results. For example, laboratories and clean rooms: as project leader you are also responsible for the setup of a clean room at the institute. How clean does a cleanroom need to be and what else do you have to consider?
To put it in simple terms: depending on the level of cleanliness achieved, there are fewer dust particles in the air. For space projects we require very clean cleanrooms, which itself requires an appropriate hygiene protocol as coworkers are naturally the largest source of particles. We work in optics, performing experiments with for example optical lenses through which light is transmitted with laser modules. Such experiments would be impossible with the presence of dust particles. Part of my work is also to liaise within the team and coordinate with our facility management at DLR, as well as typical project leadership tasks like time management and resource management of budgets and staff.
‘Hand-on’engineering or administrative work, which do you prefer? And how do you manage the two?
You certainly need very good time management. For me, it’s good to know how to do both. I have the opportunity to learn a great deal and try out different methods in this more infrastructure-related project. In the lab, on the other hand, I can see tangible results at the end of a working day – in the morning I started out with individual parts and in the evening, I assembled a system and can go home feeling good about the work I did. There’s a good balance between my roles as systems engineer and project leader. Many people at the institute have diverse roles. In my opinion, this is a good way to learn and try things out. It gives us the opportunity to continue to develop ourselves.
Application-oriented and varied
Marie-Theres Hahn studied aerospace engineering within the field of mechanical engineering.
Aerospace projects in particular take a long time from their initial conception to final application. How do you handle this?
In many ways we work on the edge of what is physically possible, which leads to new challenges every day. You certainly need a good amount of patience and motivation to cope well with these long periods of time and to approach the topics with vigour. We can face many delays, both in the context of the project itself but also down to bad weather delaying the rocket launch – there are many little things that add up. But many of us have a true passion for aerospace anyway: the work we do, it is fascinating. Being able to transmit an image using a new method or exchanging a quantum key – those are the moments we do it for.
For information on current vacancies at the Institute of Communications and Navigation, visit:
